Chad and Sonny and Bears, Oh My!
by DancingRaindrops
Summary: -"I'm in...a Build-A-Bear workshop," he said slowly, enunciating each syllable. "With my girlfriend of three months." Sonny nodded, grinning widely, which served only to prompt his disbelief. "...what am I doing here?"- For the amazing Teddy's birthday.


A/N: TEDDY! :D Today is your birthday – as if you didn't already know :P – and being as it is that I don't exactly know where you live, the only present I could think to give you via Internet was a story from yours truly. ;) You're the best, Tedds, and I love you so much. I hope your birthday is as amazing as you – but that would be near impossible. :P This story doesn't do you justice, but I hope you like it anyway. Everyone else, please do read and enjoy. ;) And PM the wonderful **TeddyLuver** birthday wishes, because she deserves the best birthday a girl could ask for. :D Love ya, Tedds!

**Chad and Sonny and Bears, Oh My!**

"You're kidding me." Chad stared up blankly at the store his girlfriend had brought him to, her hand still clasping his with excitement written on her face. "This has to be a joke."

"Why would I be joking?" Sonny asked, furrowing her eyebrows momentarily before turning back to the store. "This will be so much fun!"

"But Sonny, I - "

"Come on, Chad!" She tugged on his hand, dragging him into the large room that was bursting with color and children under the age of eight. Chad looked up at the rows of bears and other assorted animals lining the walls and shook his head in mild disgust with himself for being so whipped.

"I'm in...a Build-A-Bear workshop," he said slowly, enunciating each syllable. "With my girlfriend of three months." Sonny nodded, grinning widely, which served only to prompt his disbelief. "...what am I doing here?" concluded Chad, his opinion of their location confirmed when a boy about three feet tall rushed past him, screaming wildly with a teddy bear held high above his head.

"We're going to make bears, of course!" exclaimed Sonny brightly, bringing him over to the creatures that had not yet been stuffed. Chad noted that they looked extraordinarily like roadkill, and shuddered involuntarily at the thought. "Or whatever animal you'd like, really. It doesn't matter," Sonny pressed on, picking up a flattened caramel-colored bear and holding it up to examine it. "This one is so cute!"

She brought it to Chad's eye level for inspection, waiting to hear his opinion. "Wow. It's...it's something," Chad admitted truthfully, unable to sum up his thoughts about the deflated animal in a way that wouldn't seem offensive. "It's...wow."

"Do you like it?" Sonny shoved it into Chad's hands before he could answer, already turning to find another un-stuffed animal. "I'm going to pick this one." Selecting a pristine white bear, Sonny turned back to her boyfriend, still beaming. "Isn't this fun?"

"...if by fun, you mean torture of the worst kind, seeing as being surrounded by freaky little kids with astonishing lung capacities really isn't my kind of thing," Chad answered honestly, lifting the bear in his arms with his index finger and thumb, regarding it delicately and with a grimace of distaste, just as one might look at a dead skunk. Sonny's face fell instantly, causing him to immediately regret his words.

"Chad, I - " Sonny looked down at the floor momentarily before shutting her eyes, gathering her thoughts. When she opened them again, her smile returned, spreading across her entire face. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. Because I know that you'll have a wonderful time once you relax."

"Will I, Sonny? Will I - "

"Yes, you will! Now, do you want sound?" Sonny began walking over to the drawers that contained speakers, none of which were appealing to Chad in the least.

"...no." She rolled her eyes at his lack of enthusiasm before grinning.

"Fine. Come on, then, let's get these bears stuffed!" Sonny let out what Chad deemed an extremely evil-sounding laugh as she led him to the enormous stuffing machine.

"This looks like a torture device," remarked Chad wryly, smirking as he surveyed the large red box filled with dismantled cotton balls. "They even have a place to hang the prisoners," he added, gesturing to the metal pipe sticking out of the sight.

"Don't be silly, Chad, that's so you can stuff it!" Sonny snatched his bear (if the flat animal could be called that) out of his hands and slipped it onto the pipe deftly, in the manner of one who had done so many times before. Chad automatically cringed at the sight of the creature dangling, with no stuffing to hold it up. "Now, just place your foot on that pedal, and press it up and down to pump the stuffing in," instructed Sonny, motioning with her hand.

"Do I have to?" Inspired by the performances by the children around him, Chad adopted a whining tone and pouted childishly, his lower lip trembling just the slightest bit as it jutted out a millimeter or two past his upper.

Sonny ignored his expression, hitting his arm lightly as she secured her hold on his teddy bear, waiting impatiently for him to begin.

"...fine," Chad acquiesced after a few moments, when it became evident that Sonny was not going to respond at all to his pleads. She moved the pipe throughout the animal, stuffing it as expertly as if she worked there. Her own bear was stuffed only a few moments later, just as perfectly.

"Alright. Shall we get them dressed, then?"

Chad grumbled to himself under his breath for a few minutes as he pretended to seriously peruse the many costumes on display for stuffed animals (someone clearly had _way _too much time if they were designing and making these) while Sonny exclaimed every few seconds over something that was "so cute"!

"I'm ready," declared Sonny eventually, her white bear decked out in a matching pink jacket and pants with glitter decorating the sides. A silver star on the jacket pocket was the first thing that caught Chad's eye, being both blinding and bold.

"It's not really...you." He surveyed the bear carefully before deciding that it simply wasn't his girlfriend's style at all.

"No, I know that! It's for Tawni. Her birthday is coming up soon. Don't you think she'll love it?" Sonny hugged the bear tightly for a moment, smiling and savoring the moment like she was five years old again. Chad couldn't help but smile at the sight. "Where's yours?"

"Oh. I'm...I'm almost done. Give me a second." Chad quickly turned around and searched for something that wasn't _completely _embarrassing, one that he could excuse away if the paparazzi caught him with the bear. "Done!"

He turned back around and showed Sonny his bear, which was now sporting a navy argyle sweater vest with a long white-sleeve shirt underneath, along with khaki pants.

"Chad, is that - "

"His name is Mackenzie," Chad explained, gesturing to the Mac Falls uniform.

"He's perfect," Sonny enthused with a grin. "And you're one step ahead of me; naming is the next station!"

"...what?"

Though Chad would never admit it to anyone thereafter, he spent the next ten minutes on a computer, deciding that his bear was named Mackenzie and that he was, in fact, the bear belonging to Chad Dylan Cooper. He also helped Sonny decide that Tawni's future bear was to be named Star, both because he knew that Tawni wouldn't care what it was named (though she might think the name described her and not the bear itself) and because it was all he could think of when Sonny placed the glittering bear in front of him, asking what her name ought to be.

"Are we done now?" asked Chad when Star's birth certificate printed out, rubbing a hand over his eyes and faking a yawn.

"Not yet," Sonny said patiently, tying a pink bow around one of Star's ears.

Chad groaned, eliciting a frown from the brunette.

"Don't be like that. You've had fun today, I know it. Come on, say it." Chad shook his head fervently, refusing to comply with his girlfriend's request - the first time he had done so all day.

"No, I won't!"

"You're such a child, Chad," giggled Sonny, her eyes glowing as she teased him. "You love teddy bears."

"I don't," Chad said with as straight a face as he could manage, conjuring up all of the acting skills he possessed.

"You do," Sonny assured him, leaning on his arm and looking up into his eyes with a persuasive smile.

"I don't," repeated Chad after swallowing, forcing down the matching smile that was threatening to creep onto his face.

"But you do." Sonny contradicted him with a grin, knowing he was close to cracking.

"I don't." Chad bit on the inside of his lip, keeping his merriment down as his mask of a blank expression began to slip.

"I think you do!" she argued playfully, standing on her tiptoes and pressing her lips to his happily before he could process what was happening. His eyes grew wide at the kiss, his jaw dropping of its own accord. Sonny burst out laughing at the sight of him, amused greatly. "You so love teddy bears. Say it!"

"I - I love - " stammered out Chad automatically, bewildered for a moment before he realized what he was saying. "I DON"T love teddy bears!" he immediately shouted once he got his bearings back. All the people in the store abruptly stopped what they were doing, and the place fell silent as everyone turned to look at Chad.

"Oh, you're going to get it now," Sonny murmured out of the corner of her mouth, smirking triumphantly. As if on cue, every child (and Chad was sure there hadn't been this many earlier) began to cry, scream, wail, or a combination of the three.

"That man is mean!"

"He doesn't like teddy bears!"

"Mommy!"

"Oh my gosh," Chad said incredulously, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, alright? Teddy bears are...they're okay." This did nothing to diminish the ruckus that had broken out, prompting further cries instead.

"Alright?"

"They're much better than okay!"

"Is that man crazy, Mama?"

"Okay!" He looked over at his girlfriend, who was currently laughing so hard that tears were beginning to leak from the corners of her eyes. "Okay. Teddy bears...are..."

"Go on," prompted Sonny in between giggles, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek for resolve (or bribery, Chad didn't really know. Not like he cared which one it was, anyway. This trip was turning out to be surprisingly pleasant in some ways).

"I...kind of...like...teddy bears...I guess," Chad concluded awkwardly, wrinkling his forehead.

"Kind of?

"I can't believe - "

"Stop!" Chad interrupted before another chorus of little complaints rose up again. "Listen, teddy bears are awesome! I love teddy bears! Now, can everyone calm down?"

There was a moment of silence as the kids clutching their half-made stuffed animals slowly came to the realization that Chad Dylan Cooper did, in fact, love teddy bears, and was not crazy after all.

Once this epiphany reached all of them (which surprisingly took less than two seconds, considering their young ages), the store returned to its normal bustling self, and children began screaming about things that were not at all related to Chad Dylan Cooper, a fact which he appreciated greatly.

"You admitted it," a quiet voice from behind Chad said. He whirled around quickly, ceasing in his survey of the Build-A-Bear workshop and facing his girlfriend, whose giggles seemed to have subsided for the time being.

"Admitted what?"

"That you love teddy bears," Sonny said matter-of-factly, grinning widely.

"No I didn't," Chad denied instantaneously, cursing himself for being so susceptible to pressure from children half his size.

"Yes you did," Sonny shot back quickly, running her words together with her speed in replying.

"No, I - "

"Teddy bears are awesome! I love teddy bears!" Chad broke off immediately at the sound of his own voice issuing from Sonny's hand, where she held her phone. Her phone that clearly had a recording on it.

"Give me the phone, Sonny."

"I don't think so," she shot back with a smile as bright as her personality stretching across her face.

"Sonny, just - just give me the - Sonny, give - give me the - Sonny!" Chad lunged for the phone, reaching for it desperately as Sonny danced to the cash register, carrying her phone above her head in one hand and holding out her teddy bear and its birth certificate to the cashier with the other.

"Hang on, my boyfriend has a bear too," she told the cashier brightly, giggling as Chad reached up to pluck the phone out of her hand, only for her to switch hands and hold it behind her back.

"Sure, no prob - Oh my gosh! You're Chad Dylan Cooper!" the cashier squealed, who apparently had been oblivious to the events of a few minutes ago. "I love you!"

"Shocker." Sonny's voice was deadpan as she looked up and down the young girl, who stuck her hand out to shake Chad's.

"I'm Teddy!" Chad took it willingly, handing her the bear version of Mackenzie at the same time.

"Nice to meet you, Teddy. Nice name." He gave her his usual half-smile that he reserved for fans, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Can't imagine why you would work here, of all places." Teddy giggled happily, near swooning at the touch of his hand against hers.

"You're so funny, Chad." She turned to Sonny and winked. "You're lucky he's your boyfriend."

"Oh, yes," agreed Sonny, planting another quick kiss on Chad's lips in a rather territorial way, startling him. Rather than scaring Teddy off, as Sonny had expected, she grinned and snapped a picture of them with her phone.

"You guys are so cute! I'm totally posting this on my Facebook, and myspace, and Twitter, and - "

"Wow, you have a lot of profiles," interjected Chad, shaking his head. "Want to just, you know, have us pay for the bears and be on our way?"

"Sure!" Teddy chirped, typing numbers into the cash register immediately, ready to comply. "I guess you guys have somewhere important to go, right? A premiere? A photo shoot? A filming?"

"A date," Sonny said meaningfully, smiling a little more sweetly at Chad than she ordinarily would.

"Oh, I see." Lifting her eyebrows conspiratorially, Teddy handed Chad his credit card back and gave him the receipt, packing up their bears in cardboard boxes that looked like houses. "Well, then, I certainly won't stop you! Have fun on your date! I can't believe that /I/ just gave CDC a teddy bear!"

Chad and Sonny left the workshop with their bears, slightly disturbed by the girl's enthusiasm, but shrugging it off anyway.

"Like I was saying. You love teddy bears," Sonny began, picking up where they left off. Rather than protesting as she expected, Chad wrapped his arm around Sonny's waist and pulled her closer to him, grinning.

"Yes, I do." His girlfriend lifted her eyebrows, surprised by his compliance.

"What?"

"I love teddy bears," Chad repeated simply, the corners of his mouth still quirked up in amusement. "And you're lucky that I'm your boyfriend."

"A little conceited there, aren't you, Chad?" teased Sonny, laughing at the way he complimented himself so easily.

"Oh, no, you said so yourself," he reminded her, his eyebrows raised.

"Did I?" She pretended to think back over what she had said earlier, tapping her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "I don't think so!"

"You did," assured Chad, smirking. "And that's not all you did, either."

"What else did I - " Sonny was forced to break off her question abruptly as Chad's lips pressed against her own sweetly, the kiss lasting a minute or so. "Oh yeah. Now I remember," she recalled with laughing eyes when he pulled away.

"I thought you might." Chad reached into his cardboard box and pulled out Mackenzie, handing him to Sonny. "Here."

"Don't you want him?" Sonny looked up at him with inquiring eyes, slightly confused. "To remember today?"

"I won't need a silly teddy bear to remember today," murmured Chad softly, kissing her again. "And I want you to have him."

"You love teddy bears," Sonny corrected with a smile, accepting the well-dressed bear and hugging him with one arm. "Thank you. For the bear. And for going into Build-A-Bear with me. You really are a wonderful boyfriend."

"Of course," Chad confirmed, as if this were obvious. Sonny laughed, her eyes crinkling adorably at the corners and her teeth spread wide in a natural grin. With such a sight before him, Chad couldn't help but begin to lean down to her lips once more to express his adoration. "Of course."

A/N: Cheesy and fluffy. xP So fun. Doesn't everyone love Build-A-Bear? I haven't been there in far too long, and I stumbled across my old stuffed animals and their costumes a few weeks ago. ;) I really do have "Star's" outfit. XD And I only wish I had "Mackenzie's." :P Everyone, please review, for Teddy's sake. xP Oh, who am I kidding? My sake as well. XD I need reviews to live – or at least, to write more for you lovely people. ;) Please, please review. I'm rather reduced to begging now. Love you all. :D

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TEDDY! :D You're hilarious, cheerful, and the FF sister I'll always love. :') Here's to you, Tedds. *cheers for Teddy and simultaneously cracks up at how sappy both author's notes are*


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